Qin Ziyu held the sword in his hand, ignoring Chen Guan and the others, stepping forward towards the merman.
His steps were not fast, but were full of power. His long and powerful legs moved with the steadiness of steel, his entire being seemingly filled with explosive strength.
His exposed skin had a strange purple and blue hue, half of his face glowing with purple energy and the other half with blue energy, his hands were the same—one hand glowing purple and the other blue—making him appear unusually mysterious.
Chen Guan was startled when he saw this, because he recognized the transformation happening to Qin Ziyu.
In Divine Land, there are many famous secret techniques. Although World-Defying Secret Spirits are rare, World-Defying Secret Techniques are even rarer, but over the span of three thousand years a lot of World-Defying Secret Techniques have emerged.
Among them, there is one World-Defying Secret Technique that is almost universally known now, which is the Purple and Cyan Qi Profound Skill of Qin Beige, one of the Ten Celestial Kings. In that chaotic era, Qin Beige became renowned with the Purple and Cyan Qi Profound Skill and since his rise in prominence, he has never been defeated, establishing the Qin Family's eight-hundred-year long prosperity.
The Purple and Cyan Qi Profound Skill is a strange secret technique that combines hardness and softness, yin and yang, water and fire, extremely domineering, and when trained to its peak, is almost indestructible.
Yet to this day, no one knows where Qin Beige acquired the Purple and Cyan Qi Profound Skill, and apart from Qin Beige, no one else in the Qin Family possesses it.
Even though Qin Ziyu is of the Qin Family's bloodline, he is not from the direct line, merely a collateral bloodline raised in a foreign land. How could he possess such an astonishing World-Defying Secret Technique like the Purple and Cyan Qi Profound Skill? If not seen with one's own eyes, no one would believe it.
Previously, Chen Guan had speculated that Qin Ziyu had a high-quality secret technique, but never did he imagine it would be the World-Defying Purple and Cyan Qi Profound Skill.
"No wonder his level up speed is faster than others. Generally, a World-Defying Secret Technique is harder to cultivate and level up than other secret techniques, but there are exceptions, such as this Purple and Cyan Qi Profound Skill. Once cultivated, the body constantly absorbs the yin and yang essence of heaven and earth, even without intentionally cultivating, the secret technique itself will automatically operate ..." Chen Guan pondered inwardly.
Wang Lian and the others seemed to recognize the Purple and Cyan Qi Profound Skill used by Qin Ziyu, showing looks of surprise.
"Ziyu, I'll cover for you." Wang Lian deployed both hands, shooting flying sabers towards the merman.
These flying sabers aren't secret treasures, but are made from secret spirit materials, having hardness and sharpness incomparable to ordinary steel. The skill with flying sabers was something Wang Lian had focused on practicing from a young age.
The flying sabers were thrown out, reaching the merman almost instantly; two headed towards the merman's eyes while the other two aimed at the merman's throat and groin. Wang Lian's flying sabers were not only accurate but also very stable.
The merman moved with a speed that was unbelievable, causing Wang Lian's flying sabers to miss.
As the merman accelerated, trying to charge forward, Qin Ziyu's sword moved.
The sword light appeared like a shadow, carrying countless cold sword images, stabbing at the merman, with swordsmanship and body technique clearly supported by a secret skill.
Yet, the sound of collision was heard, as the merman used a single palm to meet the secret treasure sword in Qin Ziyu's hand, blocking the elusive sword technique offensive.
Those watching with Chen Guan were astonished, although they didn't know the level or quality of the sword in Qin Ziyu's hand, a secret treasure that Qin Ziyu would have brought along certainly wouldn't be of inferior quality.
The merman using merely his scaly palm to withstand the sharpness of the secret treasure sword was truly terrifying in terms of physical strength.
Qin Ziyu, worthy of being the unparalleled genius of the academy, although the sword hadn't hurt the merman, he also wasn't defeated by the merman. His body followed his sword, his body and swordsmanship changing unpredictably, combining hardness and softness, his offensive moving like a rolling river, rendering the merman unable to focus on anything else.
Originally, Lu Teng and Gongsun Zhuo, who were holding their swords wanting to rush forward, also stopped. Not because they were timid or afraid to die, but because the battle between Qin Ziyu and the merman was too close, the rhythm of attack and defense too fast, making them unable to find an opportunity to join in the attack.
Forcing themselves forward would be unwise, choosing the wrong moment could instead hinder Qin Ziyu's performance.
Fortunately, under the enhancement of the Purple and Cyan Qi Profound Skill, Qin Ziyu managed to fight evenly with the merman for a while, stabilizing the situation.
"No wonder it's Qin Ziyu, truly powerful." Lu Teng remarked.
Gongsun Zhuo wasn't as optimistic as Lu Teng, watching the battlefield and said, "Ziyu is strong, but his level is, after all, only seven. That merman is surely a level ten secret spirit, and its quality must be very high, possibly even a World-Defying Secret Spirit. Ziyu can't injure him, and eventually his strength will decline over time, worsening the situation. We must come up with a plan to escape the Valley of Death or a way to hide before Ziyu's strength wanes, otherwise we will face a dead-end."
"Even with Qin Ziyu using the Purple and Cyan Qi Profound Skill along with his secret treasure sword, he can't hurt him, what other options do we have?" Lu Teng said bitterly.
Wang Lian, holding a flying saber, kept his eyes fixed on the merman, showing a contemplative expression before suddenly saying, "Seeing the merman fully today makes me recall something I read in an ancient text. There was a mention of a secret spirit called Water Burial Buddha, and it seems to resemble this merman secret spirit quite a bit."
"What is Water Burial Buddha?" The others looked at Wang Lian, thinking that if they could learn the origin of the merman secret spirit, they might figure out its weakness.
"I just think there is some similarity; I can't be sure though. After all, the ancient text is incomplete and I read it a long time ago, so my memory is a bit fuzzy. I only remember it mentioning a Buddhist branch secret spirit that, towards the end of their life, would choose to enter a lake and await death, allowing the fish in the lake to consume their corpse afterward, achieving the purpose of returning to nature and the earth."
Wang Lian paused before continuing, "The fish in the water were originally very weak secret spirits, but after consuming the corpses of those Buddhist branch secret spirits for a long time, they underwent mutations, not only increasing their level but also improving their quality. Because they devoured so many Buddhist branch secret spirits, the mutated water-type fish spirits evolved into a dual-type secret spirit of water and Buddha, known as Water Burial Buddha. The level and quality of a Water Burial Buddha vary, even their appearance differs and depends on what kind of Buddhist branch secret spirits they devoured."
"That must be it, this thing should indeed be the Water Burial Buddha. Did the ancient text mention any weaknesses of the Water Burial Buddha?" Lu Teng exclaimed with joy, immediately asking.
"The form and ability of a Water Burial Buddha are determined by what kind of Buddhist branch secret spirits they consumed; they aren't fixed, so it's hard to identify any common weaknesses," Wang Lian said, still watching the merman, "The necklace around the merman's neck resembles Buddha beads, and it holds a bone bowl, if I'm not mistaken, that peculiar weapon seems to be a Demon-Subduing Pestle—all of which should be secret treasures of Buddhist branch secret spirits, gathered on it. If it truly is a Water Burial Buddha, then the Buddhist branch secret spirits it consumed must be extraordinary and numerous, meaning its mutation level would be very high, making it even harder to find a weakness."
Lu Teng and the others felt a bit disappointed, knowing its origin but not its weakness was essentially no different from being unaware of its origin.
Suddenly, Wang Lian cried out, "Oh, how did I forget that? I remember that ancient text had a final sentence that said a Water Burial Buddha is born from devouring Buddhist spirits and ultimately perishes from consuming Buddhist spirits."